Thursday, 23 August 2018

Valladolid welcome champions Barcelona for first LaLiga home game in over four years

Real Valladolid are back in the top division of Spanish football and their first home fixture since they were relegated in 2014 is a very juicy one. Current LaLiga champions Barcelona will be the first visitors of the season to the Estadio José Zorrilla, where an electric atmosphere is expected on Saturday night. The Blanquivioletas have lost just one home match in all of 2018, so Ernesto Valverde’s superstars will have to work incredibly hard as they aim to pick up the three points.

Before that, the second weekend of the 2018/19 LaLiga season begins with two matches in the south of Madrid, as Getafe host Eibar and as Leganés welcome Real Sociedad on Friday evening. The two capital city sides suffered losses on the road in the opening round and won’t want to make it two defeats from two against their Basque guests.

Up in the Basque Country, Alavés’ first home game of the campaign will see them take on Real Betis in the first fixture of Saturday. The team from Andalusia dominated possession in their opener against Levante, only to lose 3-0, so it’ll be fascinating to see how they respond against another side known for their explosive counter-attacking football.

A Madrid derby follows that clash, as newly promoted Rayo Vallecano visit Atlético Madrid’s new stadium, the Estadio Wanda Metropolitano, for the first time ever. Rayo haven’t managed to win away at Atlético in the league at all in the 21st century, but they’d love to travel back to Vallecas on Saturday evening with a 100 percent win rate at the ground which will host this season’s Champions League final.

Saturday’s action is rounded off with Valladolid’s clash against Barcelona, before Espanyol and Valencia get proceedings underway in Sunday’s first match. Both of these sides began their 2018/19 seasons with 1-1 draws and will hope to go one step further in week two to pick up a first victory of the campaign.

Sevilla and Villarreal, the two teams who finished seventh and fifth respectively last season, will meet in the Andalusian capital later on Sunday evening in a match that could turn out to have an impact on their European ambitions at the end of the season. Making the fixture all the more intriguing is the fact that Villarreal have just re-signed former Sevilla striker Carlos Bacca, who scored in both of his meetings with his former employers last season.

Girona and Real Madrid wrap up Sunday’s LaLiga activity, as Los Blancos travel to the Estadi Montilivi and to a stadium where they lost 2-1 last year. Both these teams have changed their coach since that match, but the majority of the players will be the same and the team from the capital city will surely target revenge for a result that was described as one of the biggest shocks of the 2017/18 season.

The round then ends with two Monday night matches, as Levante host Celta Vigo and as Athletic Club invite Huesca to San Mamés. The match in Bilbao will be very special as it’ll be Huesca’s first meeting with Athletic Club, meaning that their club captain Gonzalo Melero will offer a bouquet of flowers to the bust of legendary player Pichichi, something all clubs do when they visit Athletic Club for the first time.